Community Medicine looks at the causes of and risk factors for illnesses and medical healthcare on the population level. Community Medicine is characterised by its high practice orientation and distinct interdisciplinarity, which covers various subject disciplines in the areas of medicine, natural and social sciences. The Vorpommern region is at the central focus of the research. The goal is to develop universally applicable innovative methods and concepts, especially in the areas concerned with the causes, preventive measures and treatment of common clinical diseases. A central instrument for achieving this goal is the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP), the only epidemiological long-term study of such complexity worldwide. The SHIP data also builds the foundation for Greifswald’s research on individualized medicine, in which the individual patient with his/her original characteristics are at the centre of attention. The goal of the Greifswald Approach to Individualized Medicine (GANI_MED) is to treat every patient individually, taking into account his/her specific bodily features and needs. The pooling of competences of Greifswald’s scientists, especially in the areas of functional genomics and immunology, is just as important as the close cooperation with partners at external research institutions and within the industry.

• Healthcare research and epidemiology
• Clinical epidemiological research and molecular epidemiological research in medicine and dentistry
• Methods of Community Medicine
• Prevention, Addiction und Risk Behaviour